Top Sexual Abuse Verdicts and Settlements

$2.28 Billion Verdict for Woman Raped by Her Stepfather From Age 5 to 14 in Lake Elsinore

A Riverside County jury awarded $2.28 billion on April 25, 2023, to a woman identified as Jane Doe who was sexually abused by her stepfather from age 5 until she was 14, at the family's Lake Elsinore home and at events and property of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The stepfather, who had pleaded guilty in 1997 to lewd acts with a child under 14 and served three years in state prison, admitted the abuse at deposition, then skipped the first day of jury selection and withdrew his answer rather than face a bench warrant. The church settled for $1 million and the mother for $200,000 before trial. The verdict, $836 million in compensatory damages and $1.44 billion in punitive damages after three days of deliberation, is one of the largest ever returned for a single survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

After trial: The defendant withdrew his answer and did not defend the trial, and no appeal has been reported. The Los Angeles Times called the award largely symbolic and unlikely to be paid in full, since he was the only remaining defendant; a church and the mother settled before trial. See more

$485 Million Verdict Against Acadia Healthcare in Foster Care Abuse Case

A Rio Arriba County jury held Acadia Healthcare and its New Mexico foster care subsidiaries responsible for placing an 8-year-old girl with a foster father who raped her repeatedly, returning one of the largest single-plaintiff sexual abuse verdicts in the country.

After trial: Acadia Healthcare appealed, then in October 2023 settled this case along with two related New Mexico abuse lawsuits for a combined $400 million. The plaintiffs in this case received $200 million rather than the $485 million verdict.

$300 Million Judgment for a Child Abused in Caretakers' Custody, the Largest Entered in Missouri in 2024

A St. Charles County judge entered a $300 million bench-trial judgment for a child, identified only as G.T., who was physically and sexually abused between the ages of three and five while in the care of Susan and James McLaurie, though one defendant died before the suit was filed and the only known insurance was a $303,000 policy.

After trial: The judgment is roughly a thousand times the only known insurance coverage; one defendant died before suit. Collection prospects are minimal.

St. Charles County Jury Awards $247.3 Million to Six Women Sexually Assaulted at Oasis Foot Spa

A St. Charles County jury awarded $247.3 million to six women sexually assaulted by an unlicensed massage therapist at Oasis Foot Spa & Massage in St. Peters, finding the spa and its owner liable for hiring him without any background check and ignoring an early complaint. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in full in 2024.

After trial: Affirmed in full by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, on October 8, 2024. The award covers six plaintiffs.

$177 Million Verdict Against Hyatt After Security Guard Assaults Sleeping Hotel Guest

A St. Louis jury awarded $28 million in compensatory damages and $149 million in punitive damages to Shannon Dugan, a New Jersey sheriff's deputy who was sexually assaulted by a Hyatt security guard who used his master key to enter her hotel room while she slept. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the full award in December 2024.

After trial: Affirmed in full by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, on December 3, 2024.

$121.5 Million Verdict Against Moreno Valley Unified for Ignoring Complaints About a Predatory Teacher

A Riverside County jury found Moreno Valley Unified School District 90 percent at fault for keeping teacher Thomas Lee West in the classroom for two decades despite molestation complaints, awarding $135 million to two former students he abused.

After trial: The jury awarded $135 million to two former students and put 90 percent of the fault on the district and 10 percent on the convicted teacher, who was not sued, so the district owes $121.5 million. The jury's separate awards for each student were not published.

Dallas Jury Awards $119.6 Million Against Catholic Diocese for Decades of Clergy Abuse and Cover-Up

A Dallas jury returned a $119.6 million verdict against the Catholic Diocese of Dallas after finding it grossly negligent and fraudulent in concealing years of sexual abuse by priest Rudy Kos; eight of the eleven plaintiffs, represented by Windle Turley, later settled for $23.4 million.

After trial: Jury verdict; the case later settled for $23.4 million.

$115 Million Verdict Against Former Stepfather Who Sexually Abused a Girl From Age 6 Into Her Twenties

On September 16, 2025, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Joseph Ruffalo, an 85-year-old former music manager and 1980s film producer, liable for sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against his former stepdaughter, A.Z., who testified that he abused her from 1991, when she was six, until 2007, when she was 22. The unanimous jury deliberated two hours and forty minutes and awarded $85 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages. A.Z. had reported the abuse to police in the United States and Britain without result; Ruffalo was never charged. Her mother was a co-defendant and resolved the claims against her before trial. Ruffalo told the jury he could not pay.

After trial: The defendant testified at the punitive phase that he could not pay and had no assets to speak of. As of September 2026 no post-trial ruling or appeal has been reported, and entry of judgment and the status of post-trial motions are not confirmed.

$100 Million Settlement Ends Ohio State's Strauss Abuse Litigation, Covering Nearly 280 Survivors

Ohio State University agreed to pay $100 million to 279 of 280 remaining plaintiffs who sued the university over decades of sexual abuse by former team physician Dr. Richard Strauss; Estey and Bomberger was among co-counsel firms representing survivors.

$900 Million Verdict for Employee Raped by the Owner of FilmOn

On June 17, 2024, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury unanimously awarded $900 million, $100 million compensatory and $800 million punitive, to a former employee of Alkiviades "Alki" David's companies who was sexually harassed and raped by him between 2016 and 2019. Liability had already been established before trial, so the jury sat only on damages, and the defense table was empty. In September 2024 the trial judge ruled that the award shocked the conscience and conditionally granted a new trial unless the plaintiff accepted $90 million, $10 million compensatory plus $80 million punitive. David filed a notice of appeal at the end of September 2024 and has said publicly that none of the women who have won verdicts against him will ever be paid.

After trial: On appeal. In September 2024 the trial court cut the award from $900 million to $90 million ($10 million compensatory plus $80 million punitive) unless the plaintiff accepted, and David filed a notice of appeal around September 30, 2024. See more

Bill Cosby Held Liable for a 1972 Assault: $59.25 Million Verdict for Donna Motsinger

A Los Angeles County jury found Bill Cosby liable for drugging and sexually assaulting Donna Motsinger in 1972 and awarded her $59.25 million, including $40 million in punitive damages, the largest civil judgment Cosby has faced.

Cook County Jury Awards $50 Million Against Climbing Gym Operator Over Abuse of Boy, 8, at Peoria Camp

On June 29, 2026, a Cook County jury returned a $50 million verdict against First Ascent Climbing and Fitness for the sexual abuse of an 8-year-old boy by an older camper at its Peoria summer camp in 2022. The award was $49 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. The jury found the company negligent and guilty of willful and wanton misconduct. The company has said it is weighing an appeal.

After trial: As of July 2026, First Ascent's legal team and insurer were still weighing an appeal. We found no post-trial ruling or filed appeal, and no report of payment.

$40 Million Verdict for Childhood Abuse Survivor in Jehovah's Witnesses Elder Case

A Hawaii circuit court awarded $40 million to a survivor who was raped and sexually assaulted by a Jehovah's Witnesses elder at the Makaha congregation when she was 12 years old.

Jury Awards $35 Million Against Pomona Unified to Former Student Abused by Assistant Track Coach

In January 2024 a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury awarded $35 million to a woman identified in court as Jane Doe No. 4, who said a Pomona High School assistant track coach raped her in 1997 when she was 16. She said the principal told her to speak to no one about it. The jury assigned 70 percent of fault to Pomona Unified School District and 30 percent to the coach.

After trial: We found no report of an appeal, new trial motion or reduction. The jury put 70 percent of the fault on the district and 30 percent on the coach, who was among the coaches sued. See more

$30 Million Verdict Against Foster Agency That Cleared a Serial Abuser

A Santa Clara County jury awarded $30 million to a man who endured years of sexual abuse as a foster child, finding the Giarretto Institute 75 percent responsible for licensing and failing to monitor the Mountain View home where the abuse occurred.

After trial: The jury put 75 percent of the fault on the Giarretto Institute and 25 percent on the foster parent. Whether a judgment was entered against him is not public; if not, the institute's share is $22.5 million.

Record $27.5 Million From the Diocese of Brooklyn for Four Boys a Church Failed to Protect

Gair Gair Conason secured a $27.5 million settlement from the Diocese of Brooklyn for four boys abused by a parish religion teacher, reported as the largest individual Catholic Church sexual-abuse payout on record at the time.

Jury Finds Private School 35 Percent Liable for Abuse by Its After-School Director

A Los Angeles County jury found Westerly School, a private K-8 school in Long Beach, 35 percent liable for years of sexual abuse committed against a teenage boy who spent his days on its campus, abused by the after-school program director the school employed. In June 2018 the jury awarded $25.3 million: $300,000 in future medical costs, $10 million in past pain and suffering, and $15 million in future pain and suffering, with the remaining fault split between the abuser and the plaintiff's parents. Westerly's apportioned share came to just under $9 million. The school's Head of School said Westerly was saddened by the abuse but would not say whether it planned to appeal, and no appeal was later reported.

After trial: Westerly's Head of School, Patrick Brown, declined to say in June 2018 whether the school would appeal. No appellate ruling or later reporting of an appeal has surfaced, and coverage of Durzo's related criminal case, where he pleaded guilty in Orange County in December 2018 and was sentenced in late February 2019, made no mention of one either, so the verdict is treated as final.

Santa Barbara Jury Finds School District 80 Percent At Fault for Coach's Grooming and Abuse of a Student

A Santa Barbara jury awarded $25 million to a man identified in court papers as John Doe #2, who was groomed and sexually abused as a teenager by Justin Sell, a former security guard and assistant football coach at Dos Pueblos High School. The December 2023 verdict, reached after a three week trial, apportioned 80 percent of the fault to Santa Barbara Unified School District for keeping Sell employed and failing to report his conduct to law enforcement despite staff being mandated reporters. John Taylor and Natalie Weatherford of Taylor & Ring represented the plaintiff.

After trial: No appeal of the verdict has been reported. A district spokesperson said the verdict was fully covered by the district's insurance carrier. See more

$21.75 Million Judgment Against Yeshiva Rabbi and School for Sexual Abuse of a Student From Age 14 to 17

E.M. was a boarding student at the Yeshiva of New Haven from 2001 to 2005, and from age 14 to 17 the school's rabbi and chief administrator, Daniel Greer, sexually abused him on a frequent, sometimes weekly basis. In May 2017 a federal jury in Connecticut awarded E.M. $15 million against Greer and the school, and on June 6, 2017 the court entered a $21,749,041.10 judgment after adding $5 million in punitive damages and $1.75 million in offer-of-compromise interest. The Second Circuit affirmed in full on March 3, 2020, rejecting the argument that the award was excessive. Greer was separately convicted and sent to prison; by 2021 less than $240,000 of the judgment had been collected, and E.M.'s collection suits against Greer's real-estate nonprofits were resolved privately in 2024.

After trial: Affirmed in full by the Second Circuit on March 3, 2020 and final. Collection is the open question: Greer was imprisoned in December 2019 and less than $240,000 had been collected by late 2021, and suits against his nonprofits were resolved by private agreement in April 2024 after they borrowed $12.25 million. See more

Seattle Public Schools Pays $16 Million Over Garfield Coach Abuse

Seattle Public Schools agreed to pay $16 million in October 2024 to settle a lawsuit from a former Garfield High School student who said two coaches sexually abused her over several years while the district failed to intervene. The suit named volunteer coach Walter Jones, who had been barred from district employment yet was allowed to coach anyway, and assistant coach Marvin Hall, who continued an abusive relationship with her into her college years. It is the largest tort settlement in the district's history, funded mostly through the district's insurance pool. Both coaches were separately prosecuted in King County Superior Court: Hall pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor in 2025, and Jones's child rape trial ended in a hung jury and a mistrial in December 2025. Paul Sewell and Tomas Gahan of Peterson Wampold Rosato Feldman Luna represented the former student.

After trial: Negotiated settlement, so no appeal applies. Seattle Public Schools pays $500,000 of the $16 million directly, and the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool covers the remainder.